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New York Employers Now Subject toNew Sexual Harassment Prevention Requirements

Earlier this year, both New York State and New York City enacted legislation intended to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The laws impose heightened requirements on employers, including new administrative and training requirements and apply to all employers, regardless of size - even those employers who employ only one employee. On Monday, October, 1, 2018, the New York State Department of Labor issued updated FAQs, guidance and model documents to assist employers in complying with the new standards.

There are three tiers for compliance with the new requirements:

Tier 1: All employers in New York State, regardless of sizeTier 2: All employers in New York City, regardless of sizeTier 3: All employers in New York City with 15 or more employees

DrFirst Seeks Feedback on iPrescribe Mobile e-Prescribing Solution

NYSPA’s preferred e-prescribing vendor, DrFirst, is sending out a survey this week to all NYSPA members who have registered to use its mobile e-prescribing solution, iPrescribe. One in four respondents will qualify for a $25 gift card as long as they complete the survey by October 12th. Please use the following link to respond: https://drfir.st/iprescribe-css-nyspa.

APA Joins Health Care Community in Calling on Congress to Hold Hearings on Treatment of Children Separated From Parents at Border

Washington, D.C. – Today the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and 13 other health care organizations sent a letter to House and Senate oversight committees urging them to hold hearings with officials with the Department of Homeland Security Click here to read article on APA website

Notice of Good Faith Estimate of Non-Deductibility of NYSPA 2018 Dues

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 included certain provisions denying tax deductibility for the portion of dues paid to 501(c)(6) professional organizations that is spent on influencing state or federal legislation. The law requires NYSPA to provide its members with a good-faith estimate of the portion of their dues which is attributable to lobbying and therefore, is non-deductible for federal income tax purposes.

Medicare Update: Act Now to Avoid a Medicare Penalty in 2019

Psychiatrists who treat Medicare Part B patients and who do not qualify for a 2017 exclusion have less than 2 months to participate in MIPS during 2017 to avoid a penalty in 2019. The Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is the new Medicare Quality Payment Program that consolidates all pre-existing quality programs, including PQRS, the Medicare EHR Incentive Program and the Value-Based Modifier.

100% Pre-Payment Review of CPT Code 99214

Medicare has initiated a special targeted pre-payment review of all CPT code 99214 services. After conducting a review of documentation for this level outpatient office visit for an established patient, Medicare has concluded that the documentation often failed to meet the CPT documentation requirements for this service. Psychiatrists may be using Code 99214 in combination with an add-on psychotherapy visit such as 90833, 90836, or 90838. NYSPA has prepared a guideline for minimum documentation requirements for Code 99214. Members can click here to read and download the NYSPA guidelines. Failure to record the minimum required documentation for a Code 99214 can result in disallowance or reduction to a lower level E/M code and recovery of overpayments.

Under pre-payment review, your claim will be pended until documentation is reviewed. If you do not respond to the records request, the claim will be denied.

New ICD–10–CM Coding Updates at a Glance

New ICD–10–CM codes are to be used for coding purposes in the United States for dates of service beginning October 1, 2016.

New Medicare Proposals for E/M Documentation and Payment: Implications for Psychiatry

As reported in Psychiatric News, CMS has proposed significant changes in both the documentation and reimbursement for outpatient office visits (99202-99205 and 99212-99215). These proposals could create problems for psychiatrists billing for both an E&M and an add-on psychotherapy code (e.g., 99213+90836). These proposed changes will also likely impact commercial insurers. Click here to read a copy of NYSPA's comments in response to these proposed changes.

New ICD–10–CM Coding Updates at a Glance

Click here to access the new ICD–10–CM codes that can be used beginning October 1, 2018.

DrFirst Named as New NYSPA Endorsed eRx Vendor

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PA is pleased to announce that it has endorsed DrFirst as its new preferred vendor for electronic prescribing software. NYSPA's previous endorsement agreement with RxNT rec

ently ended and NYSPA has been in the process of identifying a new preferred vendor. As before, NYSPA's relationship with DrFirst will offer NYSPA members the opportunity to purchase electronic prescribing software at a significant discount.

Workers’ Comp Board: Physicians Must Register by January 15, 2018

The Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) has initiated a registration process to update and maintain a current list of medical providers who are authorized to treat injured workers. The goal of this process is to enable an injured worker to easily and accurately identify Board-authorized medical providers.

Registering You should have been be notified in November when registration opened for Board-authorized medical providers. Authorized providers are asked to register with the Board and update their office address (es) and contact information by January 15, 2018. This registration process will be an ongoing initiative every two to three years.

Medical providers who have not registered by January 15, 2018 will:

be removed from the public directory of Board authorized providers, and

become ineligible for the Board’s disputed bill process.

Creating an Account in the New York State Health Commerce System (HCS). The Board will use the existing New York State Health Commerce System (HCS) for this registration process. For the initial registration and for future updates to your practice information, you will need to have an HCS account. If you don’t already have one, you can view directions to create an account on the New York State Department of Health website.

Need Help? If you are not sure if you already have an HCS account, contact the Commerce Account Management unit (CAMU) at (866) 529-1890 and select option 1. For general questions about health care provider registration, please contact the Board’s Customer Support at (844) 337-6305.

Worker Comp Questions? Email us or call Customer Service at (877) 632-4996

As part of our efforts to enforce federal mental health parity laws, the New York State Psychiatric Association has prepared two forms for individuals to submit to their health insurance plans to request information about the fees paid for outpatient services including services used in the treatment of mental illness. NYSPA spearheaded successful efforts to secure mental health parity in New York. The American Psychiatric Association was a key advocate for enactment of federal law mandating health insurance parity for the treatment of mental illness. Once state and federal parity laws were passed and became effective, our efforts now must switch to parity enforcement.

APA Statement Opposing Separation of Children from Parents at the Border

How Psychiatrists Can Help Immigrant Families

The separation of families seeking asylum at the U.S. border has left many in shock and disbelief and wanting to take action. A federal judge has ruled that the children under age 5 taken from their parents be returned, but the process is slow going. Click here to read article on APA website.

Informational Webinar About DrFirst e-Prescribing Products

DrFirst, NYSPA's endorsed e-prescribing software vendor, offers a substantial discount for use of its e-prescribing smartphone application, iPrescribe, and its stand-alone e-prescribing software, Rcopia/EPCS. To learn more about DrFirst products, including how to sign up to use iPrescribe for one year at no cost to you, NYSPA members are invited to join the webinar presentation and product demonstration scheduled for Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 7:00 pm.

NGS Medicare Will Soon Reject Handwritten Claim Forms

Beginning August 7, 2017 for upstate providers (localities 03 and 99) and November 13, 2017 for downstate providers (localities 01, 02 and 04) all handwritten claims submitted to NGS Medicare will be returned to providers with a note attached stating that a new claim will need to be submitted. All submitted, or resubmitted, claims after these dates will need to be either printed (not handwritten) paper claims or electronically submitted claims.

Mandatory Prescriber Education Requirement

The Department of Health recently issued FAQs on the new requirement for mandatory prescriber education in pain management, palliative care and addiction pursuant to Public Health Law §3309-a(3).

The statute requires all physicians (including all non-physician prescribers) who have a DEA registration number to complete at least three hours of course work or training in pain management, palliative care and addiction no later than July 1, 2017 and once every three years thereafter. The course work or training must cover eight mandatory training topics, including New York State and federal requirements for prescribing controlled substances; pain management; appropriate prescribing; managing acute pain; palliative medicine; prevention, screening and signs of addiction; responses to abuse and addiction; and end of life care.

Summary of New Requirements for Health Care Providers Under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently promulgated regulations to implement Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination in certain health programs and activities based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. The new rule requires that health care entities subject to Section 1557 provide notice of their nondiscriminatory policies to the public.